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Students Perform Concert in the Vatican During Maymester Experience

HIGH POINT, N.C., June 3, 2013 – Imagine getting the opportunity to perform music in some of the places that inspired it. That was the experience High Point University music students had during their Italy Maymester course.

The group shares a few songs with visitors in the Siena Cathedral.

Fifty-five students, along with some parents, staff and alumni, traveled across Italy to learn a new culture, meet natives of the country and perform concerts for them. They sang in renowned venues such as St. Mark’s and St. Peter’s Basilicas, and the Basilica di Santa Croce, where Michelangelo, Galileo and other important figures are buried. In just one of the 10 days, the group toured Vatican City and then held a concert at the Chiesa di S. Eustachio in Campo Marzio where they were met with a vast audience.

Students view the ‘Ruota della Fortuna’ (Wheel of Fortune) which was laid in 1372 and restored in 1864.

“After singing an amazing concert, we were given two encores,” says rising sophomore Callie Klinkmueller. “During the concert, people continued to come in off the streets, and there was standing room only in the back of the church. It was a long day, but we got to experience so many once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.”

“The Maymester changed my life,” says recent HPU graduate Kelly Brode. “I will go to my graduate degree in music a little bit more aware of the world around me, and if that isn’t a sign of an educational experience I don’t know what is!”

All 55 HPU students, parents, alum, faculty and staff outside of the Colosseum.

This is the first time alumni and parents were invited to join a Maymester program, in order to further engage them in the educational experience.

“The alumni and parents who traveled with us were able to witness firsthand the education and learning experience our students gain through the Maymester program,” says Jill Thompson, director of alumni relations. “They were also given the opportunity to connect with the outstanding faculty who our students interact with and learn from on a daily basis.”

The program was one of 10 Global Experience courses that give students and faculty the opportunity to be immersed in cultures unlike their own. Other programs traveled to South Africa, Spain, England, France, Germany and Ireland.